Round-the-Clock Purple and Gold

Derek Fisher plans to play in exhibition games in Philippines

Lakers guard and National Basketball Players Assn. President Derek Fisher plans to play in a pair of exhibition games in the Philippines this weekend, his manager, Jamie Wior, confirmed Monday.

Fisher will join the likes of Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Derrick Williams, Tyreke Evans and Javelle McGee representing the MVP Sports Foundation, according to a person who was familiar with the roster but wasn't authorized to speak about it publicly.

The team is expected to play in a pair of exhibition games July 23 and 24 against the Philippine Basketball Assn.'s All-Star team and the Smart Gilas national team at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Chot Reyes, a coach of the Philippine team Talk N' Text, had also tweeted the news over the weekend that Fisher would join Bryant, Paul, Durant and Rose as part of what he called the "NBA superstars fly in." Numerous reports from the Philippines also indicated this, although it was unclear what the finalized roster would look like.

Because of an unforeseen NBA lockout, many players have been considering playing overseas. The Times' Baxter Holmes reported that Bryant and Fisher could also be part of a barnstorming tour of exhibition games in China, organized by their agent, Rob Pelinka, who represents 18 NBA players through the Landmark Sports Agency.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that Bryant also has showed interest in joining Deron Wiliams with the Turkish team, Besiktas, but that talks are currently on hold in the wake of the club's complicated finances related to soccer match-fixing scandal.